Great Parks, Great Communities

That's the name of the latest Fairfax County park planning effort now underway. A public meeting is scheduled tonight, Oct. 14, at the South County Government Center, 8350 Richmond Highway, Alexandria starting at 7pm. This is the last of four regional meetings held by the Park Authority. Sorry for the short notice.

As we saw with the Wolftrap bridge connection, parks trails can play a vital role in providing much needed community bicycle connections. The park authority is getting much better about considering non-motorized connections to the parks themselves as well. Local residents should have the option of biking the short distance to a local park, but that's not often possible.

It's encouraging to see that the first 3 comments from the public that are listed in the report relate to connectivity:

Provide more trail connections between parks

Improve access to parks from neighborhoods

Add accessible trails for all ages and abilities

Now is your chance to let the Park Authority know that you want to access our great parks by bike, and you want to be able to securely park your bike once you arrive. We also encourage the Park Authority to work with the bicycle program to help connect our neighborhoods with trails through parks. Great Parks, Great Communities 2010-2020 Comprehensive Park System Plan, the draft parks plan, is now available for comment. The comment period ends on November 15. Send comments to Parkmail@fairfaxcounty.gov.